Thursday September 3rdMy parents and I planned to leave the house around 7am, but every year we get sidetracked by something! We left the house about 45 minutes later. We stopped off for breakfast at McDonalds. We drove for about four hours and hit heavy rain. We could barely see the road! The rain tapered off and the sun peeked its head out for about 5-10 minutes... and then it was back to dark skies and heavy rain. The rain stopped about 30 minutes outside of Myrtle Beach. The sun was shining! We hit moderate traffic coming into Myrtle Beach. My parents realized they brought the wrong keys for the condo. They both went up to try them anyway. Of course they didn't work, so we piled back into the car and drove down to the rental office since they had extras. We drove back to the condo, piled up the cart with our stuff and headed on up.

We were pleasantly surprised to find our condo in great shape. Those who remember my trip reports from years past might recall our horrors when checking into our condo. Last year, someone had urinated on a twin bed mattress, put the protective cover back on, and the comforter over that. Normally something is missing or broken, stained or needs repair. To our surprise everything was in great shape. The place was clean and smelled nice. The only thing we needed to replace was a battery for the clock and one of the shower curtain liners.

My dad went downstairs to return our cart and came back with a couple who were interested in seeing our condo. My dad met them waiting for the elevator and learned they used to have a place down here but sold it several years ago and were looking for another place to buy and rent out during the season. We chatted with them for a bit. A little later in the evening, I went to use the internet and realized it was not password protected, which basically meant anyone off the street could use the internet. It's also a huge security issue, because anyone with malicious intent can hack in and see what everyone is doing, steal information, etc. Last year, the internet had a password and I even brought the card with the network name and password along with me. I went down to the rental office with my father and explained to the man at the front desk my concerns. He told me that the main building has password protection, and our building (the villas) did not. I told him that wasn't true, and showed him that I could connect my phone to the internet without a password. I also showed him that you can tell the network is not password protected because there is no lock icon next to the network name. He basically shrugged his shoulders and didn't know what to do. He advised that we go to the management building to sort it out. I didn't want to stand in the lobby and argue, so we headed back to the condo to get ready for dinner.

We decided to go to Mellow Mushroom for dinner. You can read the review of our experience and see photos HERE. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, it started to pour. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot, but it wasn't too crowded when we got inside. About 10 minutes after putting our order in, the power went out. Our server told us that our pizzas were already in the oven and that they'd be out in a couple of minutes. We were seated right by the kitchen and they seemed a little frantic. Everyone in the restaurant was using their cellphones as flashlights to see what they were doing. I heard one of the employees say the beverage machines were out and all they could provide was water or tea. Our sever told us it was a good thing our pizzas were already in, because once the ovens cool down, it takes a long time for them to get back to the temperature they need to be. We overheard the manager say a generator was arriving in 25 minutes. Several tables had to get up and leave because their pizzas hadn't gone in yet, and there'd be no way they'd be cooked to temperature. Our pizza arrived and we basically ate in the dark! It wasn't too bad though, our eyes adjusted and they had some doors propped open to get in extra light. My mom and I joked that we were eating in the dark and managed not to drop one bite of food on our shirts, yet we eat in the light every other time and manage to drop everything on our shirt. Go figure! Our server said the registers were down and she didn't know how to add the tax so she added up what we ordered via the prices on the menu to get our total. We boxed up one of the pretzels and the rest of our pizza and headed out.

After dinner, we stopped at Food Lion to get a couple of things. Mom and I stopped off at Stein Mart to look around. After that, we headed back to the condo to settle in for the night.

Friday September 4thI had all intentions of waking up early but I slept in. Oops! Around noon my dad went downstairs to the rental office to ask about the internet. They directed him to the main building. The main building said the internet for the building is paid out of the HOA fees and therefore it was CW's responsibility and to go back to them. Sigh. We're still trying to get everything sorted out.

After that ordeal, my dad came back up to the condo to call different realtors to set up appointments to show the condo. My parents made the decision last year to sell their condo. They interviewed realtors and went with the one they thought would do the best job. Unfortunately, the realtor did not do as promised and the listing eventually expired. We waited around a couple of hours for the realtors to call us back before we headed out for dinner.

Dinner was at Angelo's Steak and Pasta. You can read about our dining experience and see photos HERE.

After our scrumptious dinner, we did a little bit of shopping. I went to World Market looking for a specific candy, but they didn't carry it anymore. We left with some of their chocolate lacey cookies. Next, we went to Target to get new pillows and other items for the condo. Home Depot was third on our list to hit. We needed to get extra keys made for the condo. I made a quick stop into Homegoods to check out their Halloween items, and walked out with a bunch of new mugs. Our last trip for the night was to the Alabama Theatre to pick up tickets for our show on Saturday night. We went back to the condo to on our pjs and hit the hay!

Saturday September 5thMy parents went out early in the morning to Walmart to get new chairs and tables for the balcony.

The rest of the day was spent in the condo waiting to leave for our show at the Alabama Theatre. I read out on the balcony for a while to pass some time.

Dinner tonight was take out from River City Cafe. You can read the short review HERE.

A couple of hours later, it was time to leave for our show at the Alabama Theatre! Clare Bowen and Charles Esten, two actors/musicians from the ABC show Nashville, were performing. My mom and I are huge fans of the show and their music so we were excited to see they were performing here. My dad isn't a huge fan of country music and doesn't watch the show Nashville, so it was just my mom and I going to the show. Doors opened at 6:15pm. There were so many people inside the lobby. I tried finding a place to stand where I wouldn't be blocking the merchandise line, the food/beverage line, or the Time Share line. My mom and I stood off to the side near the door for a while. We had seats on the end of the aisle, so we like to wait until 5-10 minutes before the show stars to get our seats. That way, we won't have to get up a million times to let people in our row through. It was amusing to hear the Time Share guy hustle for signups. He was trying so hard. We get to our seats with 10 minutes to spare, and the entire middle of our row wasn't there. We had to get up several times (and even twice during the show) to left people in or out. The only complaint I have about the show was the sound for the first half of the show. The backing band was entirely too loud and you could barely make out what the first performer was singing or saying half the time. By the time the second performer came on, I think the sound had been sorted out because you could understand him much better. The show was fantastic. We were fourth row from the stage. The three people sitting in front of us barely moved or clapped after each song. Come on guys, move a little! The performers were giving autographs and pictures after the show. We waited in a long line for about an hour. Their handler explained to everyone to have their cameras ready and their merchandise ready but of course most ignored that rule and took their sweet time. The performers never complained once and were happy to stay until they met every single person. By the time we left the venue, it was a little past 11pm. I got a picture with the performers (which didn't come out ) and autographs. Both were sweet, humble, and geuninely happy to be there. It was definitely a memorable night!

Sunday September 6thI stayed in the condo most of the day because I felt under the weather. My parents went out to the store to pick up some more groceries and did a couple of errands.

I wanted to try Solè for dinner tonight. You can see my review with photos HERE.

We went for a drive after dinner, but it started to rain heavily. We were on the backroads and had to go back to the main roads because the streets were full of water. And of course there were the idiots driving with no lights on. We stopped by Pirate's Voyage to see if they still had the horses. It was too dark and rainy to tell and the show just let out, so there were people everywhere. We decided to head on back to the condo before the rain got even worse.

:Love your photos and review of Alabama Theatre. You had GREAT seats and it was a good idea for you to wait until (you thought) all the people in the middle would be seated so you wouldn't have to play jack-in-the-box. Too bad that did not work out!

Thanks, Patrish! We bought tickets within the first 10 minutes they were on sale, so we pretty much had our pick of where we wanted to sit. We've been to that venue a handful of times, so we knew we were going to have a good seat no matter where we were.

Monday September 7thWhat a rainy morning! I sat on the balcony for a while to read and watched part of the parking lot fill up with water. We planned on playing some mini golf at Broadway at the Beach, but the rain put a damper on those plans. My parents had a meeting with a realtor around 3pm. When they were done, they swung by to pick me up and we headed out for dinner.

We ate at Mr. Fish for dinner tonight. You can read about our experience HERE.

We went for another drive after dinner - this time with no rain! We drove down to Surf Side. It's amazing to see what's changed, what's been torn down, what's been built, etc. We came to the end of the road, turned around, and headed back to our condo. I stopped off at one of the beach stores to get a hat for the beach. Hopefully we'll be able to get down to the beach for the rest of the week!

Tuesday September 8thEveryone woke up early this morning. A realtor was coming at 10am to look at the condo. We spent the morning tidying up what we could. The realtor arrived promptly and stayed for a little over an hour. I spent that time reading my room. After the realtor left, we planned to get out to the beach but everyone "accidentally" fell asleep. This was definitely one of our lazy days, lol.

My parents and I dined at Margarita's tonight. You can read my review HERE.

After dinner, we made a quick stop to the Tanger Outlets. I wanted to go into the Disney Store to see what they had. I love Disney, so this was a must stop for me. Most of the store is for little kids, of course, but they do have adult T-shirts, figurines, and some other stuff for adults. I picked up a couple of Christmas ornaments - two for me, one for a friend as a Christmas present. They had a small clearance section of items from various Disney resorts and parks, which was nice. They had a beautiful set of shot glasses, and a couple of vintage looking mugs. Everything looked picked over in the clearance section, though. If your kid loves Disney and dressing up in costumes, I would definitely recommended getting their costumes/outfits here. The prices are cheaper than what you would pay in any of the parks.

After spending some $$, it was another drive for us! We drove down the strip this time. I must say, I feel a little sad every time I see the huge lot where the Pavilion used to be. I always think of how excited I was to go there. We'd have to park in the garage across the street that always smelled like garbage in the stairwell. I could imagine the entrance and the haunted house I was too scared to go in, and the HydroSurge water ride that my parents always made me go on last because you got soaked on it. Those were good times. After our drive, we headed home and went to bed.

Wednesday September 9thMy mom and I took a walk on the beach early in the morning. The weather was nice! I love how peaceful the beach is in the morning. No crowds or sounds except the birds and the waves crashing. I needed to get back to the condo by 10am to buy tickets for Matilda: The Musical. It's coming to DC in December and I heard the show is great. I went to our friends condo next door to use their internet to buy the tickets. The Carolina Winds internet was still unprotected and I definitely wasn't running my credit card number through that connection.

The majority of the morning was spent cleaning and vacuuming the vents in bedrooms, hallway, and bathrooms. We also touched up some spots on the wall with paint. We ate a light lunch on the balcony.

After dinner, we went Target to return some things we didn't need for the condo. I stayed in the dollar section the whole time. That dollar section gets me every time! We headed home for some relaxation and sleep.

Thursday September 10thMy dad and I had plans to play mini-golf this morning. We wanted to go early before it got too hot. We were determined to play at least one round of golf before we left! We headed on down to Mayday Golf. You can see photos I took of the course HERE. We had the course to ourselves. My family loves playing this course. There are two different courses. Rescue Falls has no steps and Mayday Mountain has steps. The holes on either course aren't too challenging, but you still have fun playing nonetheless. The foliage is beautiful and the course is always well maintained. To make a long story short, my dad won. I went easy on him! By the time we finished, it was started to get hot outside. We headed on up to Walmart to get a new vacuum cleaner for the condo, and went to Food Lion to get a case of water. We got back to the condo just in time for lunch.

After dinner, my mom wanted to stop by Belk to look for some shoes. After that, we stopped at the Dollar Store for some scissors and of course I had to take a trip down the candy aisle! We headed home afterwards and hit the hay.

Friday September 11thEveryone woke up early this morning and had breakfast out on the balcony. We went to the beach a little after 9am. My mom and I sat under one umbrella and my dad had the other to himself. I swear, the rental chairs have radar on them because as soon as you sit down, here come the lifeguards in their jeep! We rented the umbrellas for today and the next day. About 20 minutes later a family with two babies and a loud radio sit nearly on top of us. Out of all of the empty spaces on the beach, they have to sit so close. My parents went for a walk up the beach while I stayed back and read. The beach much have been so relaxing because I kept dozing off and dropped my book a couple of times in the sand. Once my parents got back, my dad and I walked to the water and dipped our toes in for a bit. We were out there for a couple of hours. It was breezy and cool. After 12 it started to get more humid, but there was still a breeze. We went back to the condo a little before 1pm for a light lunch. Dad made some tuna sandwiches to grub on.

Here are some photos from the beach this morning:

My parents and their friends who live in the condo next door went out to Joe's Bar and Grill for dinner. Every year we come down to MB, my parents and their friends pick one night where they go out to Joe's and catch up with each other. For years I wasn't "allowed" because it was a "grown-ups dinner" but over the past several years my parents and their friends have always invited me to go with them. I stay back anyway because all they'd talk about is the condo association, politics, work woes, and that's just no fun for me

My dad offered to get me carryout for dinner and I chose a new restaurant called Crave. You can read my review HERE.

My parents came home a couple of hours later from their outing with friends. They always enjoy their meal at Joe's. The said the only damper on the evening was that the restaurant was too hot.

We definitely went to bed with our tummies full tonight!

Saturday September 12thRainy morning! And it's our last full day in MB. My dad and I went to the beach while my mom started to pack up some things. The beach was very chilly and windy and it rained on and off the whole time we were down there. Despite that, there were quite a few people on the beach. I read for a bit. It started to pour so we headed on back to the condo.

Our lunch was everything we had left in the fridge from the past couple of days. It wasn't much, which was fine because we planned on having a big dinner. About an hour or so after, the realtor my dad chose to sell the condo came over with contracts for my parents to sign. She stayed for almost an hour. I stayed in my room watching Law & Order.

Dinner tonight was at one of our favorite restaurants: Villa Romana. You can read my review HERE.

After our scrumptious dinner, we went to the dollar store across the street for a couple of things. I had a coupon for Bath and Body Works and decided to go to the one in Market Commons. The store wasn't crowded when we arrived. I got the items I wanted. The associate even told me of another coupon I can use on from a website, which I appreciated. Our next stop was Krispy Kreme. I saw that "Hot & Ready" sign and I couldn't resist! We waited about 10 minutes in the drive through line before my dad pulled out and parked in the lot. As soon as he went into the building, the line starts moving. We brought out hot doughnuts back to the condo and enjoyed our last treat of the summer.

Sunday September 13thTime to go home. I swear, time goes by so quickly when you're on vacation. We all packed up the rest of our stuff and headed on out about 8:30am. We were in no rush to get home, so it was nice having those couple extra hours of sleep.

Breakfast was at Palmetto House of Pancakes. You can read my review HERE.

After breakfast, we hit the road for a very long 8 hours drive home. I slept most of the way, so the time in the car felt shorter to me We arrived home safe and sound!